Fantasy Football: Arian Foster and Michael Vick Are Good. How About Your Team?

What. A. Day. And that's not the name of some hipster, old-school blues musician. Although it would probably be a solid name for a band. Fantasy football is an eccentric mistress.

Full disclosure here: I'm an Eagles fan. Today I lost to a fantasy team that started Michael Vick against me. And I lost. And the Eagles lost.

Just how disheartening can that be? How about the Bills fan that started Ryan Fitzpatrick and Steve Johnson today? It can be brutal. But as much as you live and you die with the teams you root for, you need to disconnect yourself from your fantasy team.

In real-life, actual football, opponents can customize their game plan to maximize their success. In fantasy football, you CAN'T control anything about the team you're up against. If all of that team's players have good match-ups, so what? You can't just try to call a different defense to prevent them from having success.

Keep your chin up. I always say that fantasy football is 85-percent luck. You can't control whom you play against, who gets injured and how the NFL schedule works out. And those are very important factors in fantasy football. All you can do is try to maximize the 15-percent skill edge that exists.

So how do you maximize that 15 percent moving forward into Week 5? Start by not panicking. Don't drop Mario Manningham in a PPR league because he didn't show up in Week 4. The bye weeks begin in Week 5. That alone will increase your opportunities to make trades.

WHAT WE LEARNED IN WEEK 4

• START YOUR STUDS - Arian Foster, Michael Vick and Hakeem Nicks showed up in big ways this week. Players like Chris Johnson, Vincent Jackson and Frank Gore came through for fantasy owners, despite injury or productivity questions.
• DON'T DRAFT A DEFENSE EARLY - The Steelers defense had four or less points in most leagues in Week 4. You probably could have drafted Fred Jackson before the Steelers DST.
• STUDS WILL HAVE BAD WEEKS - Jermichael Finley really didn't get it done this week. Andre Johnson left with a hamstring injury. It happens. Deal with it. You draft players for their OVERALL PRODUCTION. It will vary from week to week.

EARLY PICKUPS FOR WEEK 5

QB

• MATT HASSELBECK - He proved that even without Kenny Britt, the Titans can move the ball through the air. He's not a QB1, but I would probably rather have him over say Jay Cutler or Kyle Orton at this point.

   

   

RB

• RYAN TORAIN - Welcome back to Shanahan's World. It's a pretty bunk place to live. You have to pick-up Torain in pretty much all but the most shallow of leagues. But who knows? The one thing we do know is that Roy Helu is only viewed as a change-of-pace back. He can be cut in most leagues.
• STEVAN RIDLEY - If he didn't get picked up in your league last week, he will this week. The Patriots backfield will continue to be a RBBC (Running-Back-By-Committee), but Ridley could take the lead. Danny Woodhead is nowhere to be seen and the Law Firm (BenJarvus Green-Ellis) has limited abilities.

   

   

WR

• VICTOR CRUZ - Cruz is a better outside receiver than a slot or inside receiver. Yet, the Giants coaching staff came out and said that he was the Giants' future slot WR. Then against the Cardinals, Cruz played outside at receiver OVER Mario Manningham. It's possible that Manningham and Cruz swap WR positions often. But it shows that the Giants are determined to keep Cruz involved.
• DAVID NELSON - Somebody in your league might cut Nelson after a lackluster Week 4 performance. You need to pick him up. The Bills face the Eagles in Week 5. While the Eagles have done well against outside WRs, they've been a bottom-5 defense against slot or inside receivers. There's PPR value here.
• JACOBY JONES - Andre Johnson could potentially miss games with his hamstring injury. If so, Jones would be the featured WR in the Texans offense. He won't match Andre Johnson's stats, but he could be a useful player to own as long as Johnson is out.

   

   

TE

• JARED COOK - It finally happened this week. Cook caught a pass in space and used his physical talent to make a great play. He will be an inconsistent option, but he's got at least as much upside as say, Fred Davis. Treat him accordingly.

Here's hoping that it worked out for you in Week 4. If it didn't, DO NOT PANIC! There's still a ton of fantasy football left. If you have any fantasy questions or comments, please use the comments feature below and/or use the Twitter.